Delicate goods drier



Feb 17, 1953 l H. E. MbRRlsoN 2,628,432

DELIcATE Gobns DRIER v Filed May 14, 1951 Patented Feb. 17, 1953 STATESDELICATE GOODS DRIER Harold E. Morrison, St. Joseph, Mich., assignor toWhirlpool Corporation, St. Joseph, Mich., a

corporation of New York Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in clothes driers and has as itsprincipal objects to y provide an improved form of drier constructionfor rotary'drum types of household driers, for drying delicate clothesthat would otherwise be injured by the tumbling action of the clothes inthe drying drum.

Another object of my invention is to provide an efficient form ofstationary drying means incorporated in a rotary drum type of a drierfor drying delicate clothes without tumbling, at the same time otherclothes are drying by the tumbling action of the drier drum.

Another and more detailed ob'ect of my invention is to provide a noveland improved form of drier construction for rotary drum types ofhousehold dryers including a drying means fitted in the door for thedryer cabinet, to support the delicate clothes for drying.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel and improvedform of dryer door for the cabinet of a rotary drum type of householdclothes dryer having means incorporated therein for drying delicateclothes.

Still another and more detailed object of my invention is to provide anovel and improved form of dryer door for the cabinet of a householdtype of clothes dryer having a recess therein with shelves contained inthe recess to receive the delicate clothes and having one perforate walland another imperiorate wall, one oi which walls has a door therein toaiford access to the drying shelves.

These and other objects of my invention will appear from time to time asthe following specication proceeds and with reference to theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a household type of rotary clothesdrier having a drying means for delicate clothes constructed inaccorda-nce with my invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view takensubstantially along line Il-ll of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a View somewhat similar to Figure 2 but showing a modifiedform in which my inf vention may be embodied.

In the embodiments of my invention illustrated in the drawing, a rotarydrum type of clothes drier is shown which may be of a type illustratedand described .in application Serial No. 208,707, iled by Peter EduardGeldrhof and Harold E. Morrison on January 3l, 1951. The drier, hereinshown includes a cabinet lo having a front wall H with a door l2 thereinfor clos- 2 ing a clothes receiving opening i?. in said iront wall andaffording access to a drier drum l5 rotatably journaled within saidcabinet.

As in the aforementioned application Serial No. 208,707, the drum l5 isrotatably driven during the drying operation and a 'bulkhead (not shown)extends upwardly along the rear wall of the drier drum I5 and has aircirculating means associated therewith for circulating the heated airinto said drum and withdrawing it therefrom through a perforated rearwall of' the cabinet, from which it may be exhausted to the atmospherethrough a rear wall of said cabinet. The bulkhead, heating and aircirculating means is clearly shown and described in application SerialNo. 208,707 mentioned before, so neela not herein be shown or described.

The clothes receiving opening le in the front wall of the cabinet E@ maybe circular and is dened by an inwardly extending annular flange il,herein as shown as extending toward the drier drum l5. The flange il isshown as being bent to extend at right angles toward the center of thedrier drum, to form a sealing shoulder i5. The flange is then bentinwardly and curled outwardly to form a smoothly curved lip le. Theinside of the shoulder it .is slidably engaged by a flexible sealingmember 2! extending from an outwardly curved flange 2 l, defining aclothes receiving opening in a front wall 22 of the drier drum l5, toretain the circulation of air into and out of the drum l5 through itsrear perforate wall.

The door I2 may be rectangular and may be hinged to the flange il bysuitable concealed hinge means (not shown), as in application Serial No.208,707, so that upon release of a latch 23 engaging a keeper 2liprojecting upwardly from the upper inner margins of said door, the doorwill be free to open. The latch 23 is shown as being operated by apush-button 25 extending through an opening in the forward inclinedupperA face of the cabinet it, and operatively connected with the latch23 by release levers 25 and 2l.

The door l2 has a iront Wall 30, herein shown as being rectangular andhaving an inwardly extending annular iange Sii, to which is secured anannular shouldered end 32 of an annular side wall 33 in a suitablemanner, such as, welding. The side Wall 33 extends inwardly through theclothes receiving opening i3 within the drier drum l5. A sealing memberfifi on the shouldered portion 32 of the door is shown as engaging theinner edge of the inwardly extending flanged portion I 8 of the ange I1,to prevent heated air from escaping through said opening in said cabinetduring the drying operation.

The annular side wall 33 of the door is shown as having an inwardlyturned inner flanged portion 35, to which is secured a rear wall 36 ofthe door, herein shown as being perforate. As

herein shown, the rear wall 36 includes `an an nular rim 3?, U-shaped incross-section with the open po-rtion thereof opening inwardly toward thecenter of rotation of the drum, and having a screen 39 crimped therein.

A plurality of shelves d8, 60, herein shownV as being three in number,are mounted Within the recessed portion of the door I2 at the outer,edges of the flanged portion 35 thereof, as by Welding, and aiord ameans for holding delicate clothes for drying by the heated aircirculatedthrough the drier drum i5. While shelves are hereinshownit isof course obvious that shelves need not be provide i, and that hooks orother clothes holding means may be provided instead.

Each shelf 6i! is herein shown as being inclined with respect to therear wall 39, so moisture from the clothes may drain into the drierdrumA I5. Each of said shelves is shown as having an outer upwardlyextending lip i terminating into end lips 152, #i2 at opposite edgesthereof.

rThe front wall 3i) of the door I2 is shown as having a rectangularopening therein, to Yaiford access to the shelves d, 40. The openingdened by the inner edge of the front wall is herein shown as beingclosed by a door 43 hingedr to said front wall, as by hinges 4s, di andheld in a closed position by suitable latching means, not herein shownor described since it may be of any well known form and is no part of mypresent invention.

The door 'i3 is shown as having an inwardly spaced inturned rib 35extending inwardly of the opening in the front wall 39 of the door i2. A

gasket or sealing member 45 is shown as beingA spaced outwardly of therib i5 to engage the` opening in the front wall i of the door !2,.toprevent the escape of air past the door 43 during op eration of thedrier and thus to retain thevcirculation of air into and out of thedrier drum I5 through the perforate rear wall thereof.

With the form of my invention illustrated in.

Figure 2, at any time during operation of the drier, delicate clothessuch as nylon stockings or the like may be placed on the shelves 40,upon opening of the door mit. Upon closing of the door, the hot aircirculating into and out of the drum I5 will pass 'through the screen S9in communica-- tion with the goods on the shelves 10, 40 and dry thedelicate clothes without tumbling, while the. clothes within the drierdrum I5 are being dried by rotatable movement of said drum and thecirculation of heated air therethrough.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figure 3, a door E201l forthe front Wall II of the cabinet It is shown as having an imperforateinner wall 4l extending within the open clothes.

receiving end of the drier drum i5 and as having shelves dta., 40a,secured thereto and extending thereacross inrvertically spaced relationwith respect to each other. The shelves 46a, Mia may be like the shelvesdii, A front door 43a. for. a

front wall @to of the door IZa is provided to aiford.

access to saidshelves. Said front door is herein shown as beingperforate, having a screen 4S ex,.- tending across the open portionthereof and suit.- ably secured thereto as by crimping.

With this forni of my invention, when the..

nylon stockings or other delicate clothes are placed on the shelves 40a,40a and the drier drum I5 is rotating to eiect drying of the clothestherein, the clothes on said shelves are dried by the heat radiated fromthe interior of the drier drum, the moisture in the delicate clothesescaping through the screen 49 in the door 43a.

I-t should. here be noted thaty while I have shovvnadoor 43a. asclosingthe opening in the front Wall 30a of the door IZa that a doorneed not be provided and the recessed portion of the door may be open,if desired.

It should here be noted that the doors 43 or 43a, whilelshown as beingon the outsides of the doors I2 and I2a respectively, may be on theinsides of said door as well, and may be perforate or imperforate asrequired.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simple and novel arrangementhas been provided for drying clothes in a household type of clothesdrier without tumbling, during operation of the drier while drying theclothes within the drier drum by tumbling, and that this is attained byproviding a recess in a standard drier door with shelves therein forholding the clothes to be dried, and by dryingthe clothes either by theheated air circulating through the drum and a perforate rear wall of thedoor, or by radiation of heat against an imperforate rear wall of thedoor.

It will be understood that various modiiications and variations of thepresent invention may be effected without departing from the spirit andscope of the novel concepts thereof.

Iclaim as my invention:

l. In a clothes drier, a cabinet, a drier drum rotatably mounted withinsaid cabinet, an opening in a wall of said cabinet confronting an openend of saiddrier drum, a door closing said opening, said 'door having awall spaced inwardly of the inner margins of the front wall of saidcabinet and with the margins of said door defining a recess forreceiving clothes for drying, vent means for venting said recess, andshelf means in said recess for holding delicate clothes for drying bythe heat generated Within said cabinet.

2. In a clothes drier, a cabinet having a front wall, a drier drumrotatably mounted therein and having a front wall Vhaving a clothesreceiving opening therein confronting the front wall of said cabinet, adoor in said front wail of said cabinet affording access to the interiorof said drum, said door being` hollow and having two spaced walls, oneof which is perforate, a delicate access to said clothes holdingreceptacle.

3. In a clothes drier, a cabinet having a front wall, a drier drumrotatably mounted within said cabinet and havingairont wall having aclothes receiving opening therein confronting the front wall of saidcabinet, a door in said front wall of said cabinet affording access tothe interior of said drum, said door being hollow and having two spacedwalls, one ofV which is perforate and is disposedwithin the margins ofsaid drum, and the other of. which has a door hinged thereon andaffording access to the space between said walls, and clothesholdingreceptacle means within the hollowinterior of said firstmentioned door.

4. In a clothes drier, a cabinet having a front wall, adrierdrumrotatably mounted therein and havingr a front wall having a clothesreceiving opening therein confronting the front wall of said cabinet, afdoor in said front wall of said .cabinet .aordi'ngaccess to the interiorof said drum, said door being holioW and having two spaced Walls, a doorin the outermost of said Walls affording access to the hollow interiorof said iirst mentioned door, a clothes holding receptacie Within thehollow interior of said first mentioned door, and said second mentioneddoor being perforate, to allow the release of moisture from said seconddoor, during drying.

5. In a clothes drier, a cabinet, a clothes containing drum rotatablymounted Within said cabinet for tumbling and drying ciothes containedtherein, said drum having an end wali having a clothes receiving openingtherein, and said cabinet having an opening therein confronting saidclothes receiving opening, a door 1.

closing said opening in said cabinet and affording access to said drumand having an inner Wall spaced inwardly of the front wall of saidcabinet 5 and with the margins of said door defining a clothes receivingrecess, and delicate clothes holding members within said recess forsupporting delicate clothes for drying without tumbling.

HAROLD E. MORRISON.

REFERENCES @FEED The following references are of record in the rile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

